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| Tuesday, November 21, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Rivals to abstain from vote TOKYO, Nov 20 — Japanese Opposition parties today submitted a no-confidence motion against unpopular Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, as rivals in his own ruling party stuck to their pledge to support the measure. Ershad surrenders, sent to jail Suharto’s son at large, wife quizzed |
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| Ally deserts Estrada as trial opens MANILA, Nov 20 — The Philippine Senate launched the impeachment trial of President Joseph Estrada on corruption charges today hours after a key ally deserted him. Missile attack on
Arafat’s office Sharif’s opponents capture party HQ
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SC set to rule on Florida vote TALLAHASSEE (Fla), Nov 20 (Reuters) — Republicans and Democrats face off in the Florida Supreme Court today in one of the most important rounds yet in their battle to win the US Presidential election, still unresolved after nearly two weeks. The seven judges of the court are due to start hearing arguments from the campaigns of Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore at 2 p.m. on whether post-deadline results from hand recounts should be added to the Florida total for the November 7 election. Mr Gore is pinning his hopes of wresting Florida from Mr Bush on the possibility that manual recounts of 1.7 million votes in three heavily Democratic counties will boost him into the lead. The Texas Governor has a slim lead over Mr Gore of 930 votes out of the 6 million cast in the state. Whoever gets Florida’s 25 electoral votes wins the White House. But republicans are fighting strenuously to bar acceptance of the hand counts in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, which have so far yielded a small but significant increase in Gore votes. “To reverse the results of this election, Al Gore’s supporters are less interested in accuracy and more interested in changing the rules to generate the votes they need to win,’’ Montana Republican Gov. Marc Racicot told reporters at Bush’s headquarters in Austin, Texas. He cited the issue of “dimpled” ballots that show signs of indentation from an attempt to cast a vote, but no actual punch hole. Mechanical vote counting discards those ballots, but the human counters are trying to ascertain voter intentions from them. Racicot called that “a guessing game’’ of trying “to divine out of thin air whether someone meant to poke a hole through a ballot.’’ “It’s wrong, it’s flawed and it’s a process that is simply and honestly not worthy of our democracy,’’ he said. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Gore’s running mate, said on television yesterday that the campaign had not decided what it would do if the Florida court ruled against hand recounts, effectively giving the state’s 25 electoral college votes and the White House to Bush. “No decision has been made about any other lawsuits. ... That’s a judgment that will be made at that moment when we see where we are,’’ Lieberman said. “The campaign will ... at this point take no options off the table.’’ A legal adviser to Gore appeared to contradict Lieberman, telling reporters he thought the Democrats would end their litigation if the Florida court ruled against them. “I believe it will end here,’’ said the legal adviser, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. But Gore spokesman Doug Hattaway said the lawyer was just expressing an opinion. “He also made clear that we have to see what the (Florida) court says,’’ Hattaway said. The Supreme Court received written submissions from the two sides over the weekend and has given the parties an hour each on
Monday to make verbal arguments. The Republicans said in their written presentation that Florida’s top election official, Secretary of State Katherine Harris, had acted correctly in refusing to accept results after the statutory deadline of November 14. “It would be highly inequitable to keep the state and nation on hold to finish a manual recount when the responsible officials failed expeditiously even to begin the process,’’ the court papers said. Broward and Palm Beach counties say they could finish their hand counts this week, but Miami-Dade expects to take until December 1. Harris, a staunch Republican, had originally planned to certify a final result last Saturday, which would have given the election to Bush. But the day before her planned announcement, the Supreme Court stepped in and ordered her to hold off at least until it had a chance to consider the issue of accepting the late hand recount tallies. At least four of the seven judges must agree on a judgment. A former chief judge from the court, Justice Ben Overton, said a decision could be expected within 48 hours of the hearing. |
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US poll impasse
may enter new year NEARLY two weeks after American voters went to the polls to elect a new president, it is becoming clearer by the day that the dispute between Mr George W. Bush and Mr Al Gore may not be solved until after the new year, shortly before one of them succeeds Mr Bill Clinton. Whatever the outcome of
today's hearing in the Florida supreme court, lawyers on both sides of the argument now think further litigation about Florida’s disputed election is likely, possibly delaying the final award of the state’s 25 electoral college votes. The Florida state legislature could even be involved. And if the issue is unresolved by December 12, the day by which members of the electoral college must be appointed, the US Senate and House of Representatives could also become embroiled. “It’s a very scary thought, but I’m getting a sneaky feeling in my gut that the Congress may get involved in it,” Democratic Senator John Breaux of Louisiana said yesterday. Three possible outcomes seem likely. First, the court could order that the manual counts under way in the three counties should be allowed to continue and their results included in the official Florida returns, as Mr Gore wants. Second, the court can uphold Friday’s lower court ruling by judge Terry Lewis in Tallahassee to permit the Florida secretary of state, Katherine Harris, to certify the state’s results, the course the Bush camp will prefer. There is a third possibility, under which the court allows the hand counts to continue, but defers a decision about including their new numbers in the certification. That would give both sides something less than outright victory. Certification is by no means the end of the road, however. Depending on the numbers, the loser could go back to the court to challenge Ms Harris’s decision, something which Mr Gore’s lawyer, David Boies, clearly signalled last week was a possibility. Outside the courts, some elected Florida politicians are also rattling their swords in another move which could extend the time table. The same federal law which decrees that members of the electoral college must be appointed by December 12 to cast their votes on December 18, also provides that “the legislature of each state” has the power to appoint members of the college “on a subsequent day” if these deadlines have not been met. Florida’s Republican Speaker-elect Thomas Feeney, said at the weekend that the state legislature — in which the Republicans have majorities of 10 in the Upper House and 34 in the lower — has “the power, authority and responsibility to intervene”. Those comments raise the possibility that Florida Republicans could select their own electoral college members if the court process hands the state to Mr Gore. If Florida’s 25 votes remained in question after December 18, the focus would then shift to Washington, where the newly elected Senate and House are due to meet on January 5 for what is normally a routine joint session to count the electoral college returns. By law, the session is chaired by the vice-president, Mr Al Gore. An objection to any state’s returns from any one of the 100 senators or 435 Congressmen is sufficient to interrupt the process. Each house then debates separately the validity of claims before voting to accept or reject. The two houses must concur, which means that the Republicans’ nine-vote majority in the House of Representatives could be critical. The make-up of the Senate is still uncertain, pending the still undeclared contest in Washington state. Depending on whether Florida’s votes are accepted or not, the election would then go into the House, where each state would cast a single vote, based on a majority vote in each state’s delegation. Republicans would control 28 of the votes — assuming everyone votes along party lines — giving the White House to Mr Bush two weeks before the Inauguration Day on January 20. —
The Guardian, London |
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Charged with
eating
chads WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (PTI) —In what is perhaps the strangest charge to come out of the battle of the ballot in the USA, a Republican observer of a county poll recount charged a Democratic floor manager with eating
chads—tiny pieces of paper out of the ballot when the ballot is punched. Mr Jim Rowland, observer of the Broward county recount, claimed that the floor manager scooped up the chads as they were being piled into an envelope and chewed some of them while pocketing the rest. Rowland, however, failed to get the name of the floor manager or report the matter to the canvassing board. State Representative Debbie Wassterman Schultz, a Democrat, denied the charge and said that Republicans were making up tales. |
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No-trust motion against
Japan PM TOKYO, Nov 20 (Reuters) — Japanese Opposition parties today submitted a no-confidence motion against unpopular Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, as rivals in his own ruling party stuck to their pledge to support the measure. Ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) reformist challenger Koichi Kato sparked political turmoil and drove a wedge into the long-ruling party just over a week ago when he threatened to back the no-confidence motion. Results of the vote in parliament’s powerful lower house are expected to be known around 11.30
pm (2.30 p.m. GMT), an Opposition lawmaker said. If the no-confidence motion passes, the Prime Minister must either resign within 10 days or call a general election. Many LDP lawmakers are eager to avoid an election after the party suffered a mauling in June. Kato says he wants to topple Mori to revive the LDP and wean it from the pork-barrel spending that has left Japan with the worst public debt among advance nations, though he adds he would not tighten fiscal policy drastically soon. Meanwhile, reformist ruling party rivals to Prime Minister Mori said that they would abstain rather than vote in favour of a no-confidence motion that the Opposition has submitted to Parliament. The move makes the no-confidence motion unlikely to be passed. Meanwhile, a majority of Japanese voters support reformist politician Koichi Kato, who has vowed to topple Prime Minister Mori, according to a newspaper poll published today said. A nationwide survey, conducted by the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper at the weekend, showed 54 per cent of the respondents backing Mr Kato. The poll said only 37 per cent did not support Mr Kato, who heads the second largest faction within Mr Mori’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and has pledged to take them with him to support a vote of no-confidence to be submitted against Mr Mori by the Opposition later in the day. Nevertheless, 59 per cent of the respondents said they did not expect Mr Kato to replace Mr Mori. The disapproval rating for Mr Mori’s Cabinet rose three percentage points to 61 per cent from a month ago, while the approval rating gained three percentage points to 18 per cent, the poll showed. Mr Mori has become one of Japan’s most unpopular Prime Ministers in years after a series of verbal gaffes and the resignation of two Cabinet ministers amid scandals over extramarital affairs and money. Of those polled, 55 per cent said Mr Kato should vote for the no-confidence motion against Mr Mori. LDP Secretary-General Hiromu Nonaka said he would urge Mr Mori to call an election in the event of a defeat in the no-confidence motion. However, many LDP lawmakers as well as their partners in the three-way ruling coalition were reluctant to face the voters so soon after the party’s mauling in a June Lower House poll, in which the LDP lost its majority. Mr Kato replied by saying he would not vote in favour of the motion if the LDP promised that Mr Mori would resign. Mr Kato’s campaign may have suffered a blow after at least 12 Lower House legislators from his 45-member faction decided yesterday to vote against the no-confidence motion. |
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Ershad surrenders, sent to jail DHAKA, Nov 20 — Deposed Bangladesh military ruler, Gen
H. M. Ershad, has been sent to jail today by the Dhaka District and Sessions Judge to undergo five years’ imprisonment in a corruption case. However, a petition before the Supreme Court will be taken up on Tuesday for hearing against the judgement by a two-judge Bench of the high court. His political career depends on the verdict by the Supreme Court. If his conviction is upheld he will be disqualified from contesting elections for the next five years. This has brought to end his bail for nearly four years, which he got on January, 1993. He is the second deposed President of Bangladesh to undergo imprisonment on charges of corruption. First was Khondakar Mustaque Ahmed who assumed power after the assassination of founder leader of the country, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in August 1975. Ershad was earlier convicted in three more cases out of 21 instituted against him by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government headed by Ms Khaleda Zia, widow of slain President Ziaur Rahman. Ershad stepped down from power on the face of mass agitation by three opposition alliances on December 6, 1990. He was arrested six days later with his wife, Roshan. The latest conviction came in 1993 on charges of resorting to fraud and corruption to grab land where an 18-storey building, Janata Tower, to house Daily Janata owed by Roshan, was built on a land of the Dhaka Improvement Trust. He manipulated the procedure in favour of his wife and also reduced the price arbitrarily. His wife and five others were also convicted by the Sessions Judge to imprisonment. But on an appeal a
High Court Bench in its judgement on August 24 this year commuted the conviction of Ershad to five years from seven years, upheld the fine of Taka 5 crore and in default imprisonment for two more years. The others accused were convicted with a paltry fine. The High Court finally asked him to surrender by November 21 before the trial judge. He surrendered today and was sent to Dhaka Central Jail and is lodged in the same special cell. Jatiya Party led by him will be in disarray now because of rivalry between his wife, Roshan, whom he nominated to act as chairperson along with Secretary-General Naziur Rahman Manju. A faction of the Jatiya Party led by Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury is in the Hasina Government. The jailing of Ershad will have adverse effect on the four-party alliance led by Ms Khaleda Zia who are agitating against the Awami League Government of Sheikh Hasina. In case the conviction is confirmed by the Supreme Court, the possibility of another split in the party is not ruled out by political observers. Media speculation today hinted a number of party’s senior leaders joining the BNP. But these elements are not very welcome in the BNP. |
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Suharto’s son at
large, wife quizzed JAKARTA, Nov 20 (DPA, AFP) — The Indonesian police questioned members of Mr Suharto’s family today as a manhunt continued for the former President’s fugitive son. Meanwhile, Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman said he had not ruled out issuing summonses to former senior government officials who may have been involved in aiding Mr Suharto’s youngest son in his flight from justice. Hutomo Mandala Putra, better known as Tommy, has been on the run for more than two weeks, evading an 18-month prison sentence for corruption. The police today questioned Tommy’s wife, Ardita Pramesti Regita Cahyani, known here as Tata, and one of the fugitive’s sisters, Mamiek, in this connection. The police has so far failed to locate Tommy despite orders from President Abdurrahman Wahid that he be put behind bars. Meanwhile, 94 per cent of the people polled in eight Indonesian cities said the 18-month jail term handed to Tommy should be increased, the Kompas daily reported today. |
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Ally deserts Estrada as trial opens MANILA, Nov 20 (Reuters) — The Philippine Senate launched the impeachment trial of President Joseph Estrada on corruption charges today hours after a key ally deserted him. With the defection of Senator Francisco Tatad from government ranks, the trial promises to be a cliffhanger with no clear indication on whether Estrada will be convicted or acquitted. Estrada has been under tremendous pressure to resign since a provincial Governor said in October that he had handed the president millions of pesos from illegal gambling syndicates. The Governor, Luis Singson, said Estrada had also diverted funds from excise taxes to his personal use. Prosecutors meanwhile have said mistresses of Estrada, a self-confessed womaniser, will be summoned to testify who has funded the luxury houses they are living in. In an historic session marking the first impeachment trial of an Asian leader, Senate members put on black robes and formally converted themselves into a tribunal to judge the former movie star. The trial proper, when prosecutors start presenting evidence, is to begin in early
December. Estrada has said he is innocent of corruption charges and has vowed to clear his name. Earlier, Mr Tatad announced his defection from Estrada’s coalition, but stressed he was not joining the opposition. “I will vote to convict if the prosecutors succeed in proving their case. I will vote to acquit if they fail to do so. Until that happens, I will not know what my vote will be,” he said. Earlier, Philippine President Joseph Estrada said today that he had placed his political future in the hands of the country’s senate as it prepared to hear an impeachment trial against him. “Let’s leave it to the senate, I will accept whatever is the verdict of the senate,” Mr Estrada said on the local radio, hours before the 22-member body was to begin the process of converting itself into a tribunal and serve the President with a formal summons to answer four charges. Mr Estrada’s trial on charges of bribery, corruption, betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of constitution is likely to begin in about two weeks. Some lawmakers say it could last for months, but Senate President Aquilino Pimentel has said he wants it wrapped up in a month. Mr Estrada was impeached by the House of Representatives on November 13 on charges of corruption. If he is convicted in the senate on any charge by a two-third majority — 15 senators — he will have to quit. Politicians and analysts say Mr Estrada likely has the numbers to survive the trial but warn he will be badly damaged politically if a majority of the senate votes against him even if it is less than two-thirds. Opposition senator Rene Cayetano conceded that getting the numbers to convict Mr Estrada might be difficult. |
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Missile attack on Arafat’s office GAZA, Nov 20 (Reuters) — Israeli helicopter gunships fired missiles at targets in Gaza City today in response to a bomb attack on a Jewish settlers’ bus in which two Israelis were killed earlier in the day, witnesses said. The helicopters fired at least 11 missiles from around 1800 hrs local time (2130 hrs ist) in areas near Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s seaside office and the headquarters of his Fatah faction, the witnesses said. The aerial assault took place hours after Israel blamed Fatah for the bus bombing and Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s security cabinet decided to take retaliatory military action. Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak cancelled a planned trip to Gaza Strip today after a bomb attack against an Israeli school bus near a Jewish
settlement. |
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Sharif’s opponents capture party HQ ISLAMABAD, Nov 20 (AP) — A rift in deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML) turned nasty today when rebel members took over the party headquarters to demand Mr Sharif’s removal as party head. The police waving steel-tipped sticks blocked the roads outside the white marble headquarters, while inside former loyalists of Mr Sharif, who is currently serving a life sentence in jail, demanded his removal. Led by Mr Shujaat Hussein, a former interior minister in Mr Sharif’s Cabinet, a small group of protesters inside the headquarters ripped portraits of Mr Sharif from the wall, set them on fire and shouted slogans denouncing the former Prime Minister. Outside, several hundred others shouted their support for the rebels within. Rebel party members have criticised attempts by Mr Sharif to increase his wife’s role in the running of the party. A former minister, Abida Hussain, previously accused Mr Sharif of trying to turn the party into a family dynasty. Mrs Kulsoom Nawaz, who has been championing her husband’s innocence, has gradually been asserting her authority within the party. |
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